Qingliu bent down and carefully picked up the object.
It was a pill.
Qingliu leaned closer and sniffed it. The strong scent of incense used to induce unconsciousness immediately filled her nose.
She hurriedly moved the pill farther away.
It was a sedative.
What was the Princess doing with something like this?
Qingliu glanced at the sleeping Duoduo in confusion.
The Princess must have encountered some danger!
Qingliu stood there dazed for a long while before quietly placing the pill back beside Duoduo’s hand.
Then she picked up Duoduo’s shoes and clothes and tiptoed out of the room.
Duoduo had no idea what had happened. She slept soundly, and only woke when Qingliu called her.
“What time is it?” Duoduo asked, rubbing her eyes.
“Princess, it’s already the hour of Chen.”
“The Empress Dowager has asked about you several times. I told her that you hadn’t slept well during the first half of the night and only managed to fall asleep shortly before dawn.”
Duoduo sat up and let Qingliu help her change.
After putting on her clothes and shoes, Duoduo went to wash up while Qingliu tidied the bed.
“Princess, how did your pill end up on the bed?”
Qingliu held out a pill to Duoduo.
Duoduo took a careful look. It was the hallucinogenic pill from last night.
Only then did she remember that she had been so nervous after returning yesterday that she had kept the pill clenched in her hand. She must have fallen asleep and rolled it onto the bed.
Duoduo took the pill and casually slipped it into her sleeve.
After finishing with the bed, Qingliu washed her hands and came over to comb Duoduo’s hair.
Once Duoduo was completely ready, the Empress Dowager’s personal nanny came over again.
“Nanny, has Great-Grandmother already had breakfast?” Duoduo asked with a bright smile.
The nanny first bowed to Duoduo. “This servant pays her respects to the Princess!”
“To answer the Princess, Her Majesty has already eaten.”
“After breakfast, Her Majesty even took a walk in the gardens for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea!”
“When Her Majesty saw that you still hadn’t gotten up, she sent this servant to check on you.”
“Her Majesty said that she didn’t finish looking through yesterday’s register and is waiting for you to come over and continue reading it with her!”
Duoduo hopped down from her chair.
“Please tell Great-Grandmother that I’ll come over after I eat breakfast.”
The nanny smiled, bowed to Duoduo, and withdrew.
Qingliu looked puzzled.
“Princess, could it be that none of the palace maids serving the Empress Dowager can read?”
“Of course not.”
“You don’t understand. Great-Grandmother isn’t looking for someone who can read. She wants someone who can listen to her stories.”
Qingliu seemed to understand a little.
“But can’t the people around Her Majesty listen to her as well?”
Duoduo shook her head. Once Qingliu had set out breakfast, Duoduo explained while eating.
“Why is it that you and Lüdou get along so well, but you can’t find anything to talk about with Baihe and Lianxin?”
Qingliu seriously considered the question before answering.
“Baihe and Lianxin like different things from this servant.”
“Besides, the two of them already know each other well, so naturally they have more to talk about.”
“When this servant is with them, I always feel out of place.”
Duoduo took a bite of her steamed bun and nodded.
“That’s why Great-Grandmother wants me to go to her.”
“Because I can talk to her!”
Qingliu still didn’t understand.
“But, Princess, you’re so young. Everything the Empress Dowager talks about happened so many years ago.”
Duoduo swallowed the bun in her mouth.
“I like listening to old stories!”
“You don’t like listening to them, so Great-Grandmother has to find me!”
Qingliu tilted her head and thought for a while.
She felt that the Princess was right.
Duoduo finished breakfast in just a few bites, then ran to the main hall.
“Changle pays her respects to Great-Grandmother!” Duoduo said obediently, bending her knees in a curtsy.
“Quickly, get up! Come sit beside Great-Grandmother!”
Duoduo stood and walked over to the Empress Dowager with a grin.
“Nanny said Great-Grandmother was very good today. You obediently ate your meals and exercised!”
The Empress Dowager burst out laughing and cast a teasing glance at the nanny behind her.
“Oh! So she’s become your informant now?”
“No wonder she kept nagging me this morning, telling me to do this and that!”
“She never used to be so long-winded!”
The nanny was startled and hurriedly knelt down.
“Your Majesty, please forgive me! This servant only told the Princess because she asked about Your Majesty!”
The Empress Dowager looked displeased.
“Get up already!”
“You’re an old woman of considerable age. Why do you keep kneeling at the slightest thing?”
“Do you not want your legs anymore?”
“What are you all standing there for? Hurry and help her up!”
With the support of the palace maids, the nanny struggled to her feet.
A flicker passed through Duoduo’s eyes.
“Great-Grandmother, I was originally planning to supervise you myself.”
“But I was too excited to sleep. I even ran a lap around the gardens during the hour of Mao before going back to catch up on my sleep.”
“As a result, I slept too deeply.”
“When Nanny came to ask about me, Changle was worried that you might not listen to me, so I asked her about you.”
The Empress Dowager patted the back of Duoduo’s hand affectionately.
“Great-Grandmother knows that you were only acting out of concern!”
“Enough. Bring up the register.”
Duoduo pointed at the nanny. “Nanny, do you have an old injury in your leg?”
The Empress Dowager froze, then belatedly remembered.
“I had forgotten that Changle knows medicine.”
“Changle, take a look at her. Do you have any way to help her leg?”
“Someone, bring her a seat!” the Empress Dowager ordered.
A palace maid brought over a chair and placed it below the dais.
The nanny sat down very cautiously, barely resting half of herself on the seat.
Duoduo walked over and first pressed the nanny’s leg and knee.
Then she took her pulse and asked the nanny several questions.
At last, Duoduo straightened up.
“Nanny’s knee was injured in the past.”
“It never fully healed, and then it was exposed to excessive cold, causing the cold qi to remain trapped in her lower leg.”
“That’s why whenever the weather changes, the pain becomes unbearable. Her leg swells and reddens, and she can’t bend it.”
After Duoduo finished speaking, astonishment appeared in the nanny’s eyes.
The Empress Dowager couldn’t help wiping her eyes with a handkerchief.
“It’s all my fault that her leg became like this. It happened because of me.”
The nanny stood up in alarm.
“It has nothing to do with Your Majesty! This servant did it willingly!”
A strong glint of gossip flashed through Duoduo’s eyes.
The Empress Dowager waved her hand and did not continue.
Seeing the gesture, all the palace maids withdrew from the room and closed the doors.
“Changle, can you treat her leg?”
Duoduo tilted her head and thought for a moment.
“I can only try. I’m not sure it will work.”
In truth, treating a leg afflicted by cold was an extremely simple matter for Duoduo.
However, she always remembered that she had to conceal her abilities.
So she had no intention of curing the nanny in one go.
“Then try! Even if you can only lessen her suffering, I’ll feel better knowing that I’ve done something for her!”
Duoduo nodded and pulled a cloth pouch from her sleeve.
Inside were the silver needles she habitually carried.
“If I put a needle somewhere that feels uncomfortable, tell me,” Duoduo said as she picked up a needle.
The nanny smiled at Duoduo.
“Thank you, Princess.”
Duoduo noticed that the hand hidden inside the nanny’s sleeve had clenched into a fist.
